History of the Germantown Church of Christ

by Dave Phillips

In September of 1948 a small group of Christians, most of whom lived in the Germantown area and attended the Union Avenue church of Christ, organized a Tuesday evening Bible class with W.S. Long as their teacher. Initially, they met in the home of Dalton and Mozelle Priestley at what is now called 1466 Poplar Estates Parkway. Incidentally, the late Mozelle Priestley was a daughter of J.D. Tant, a well-known pioneer preacher of many years ago.

Johnny and Pauline Brewer were part of this founding group - and provided much of the information regarding the early days. Richard Irvin, presently a member of our congregation was the little boy shown in the only picture we have of those recent years. His mother still is faithful to the Lord's church, but lives in Naples, Florida.

At the first meeting of the young church, one lady confessed her faith and obeyed the gospel. In November of that year, the group began to hold services in the old Germantown City Hall as the Germantown church of Christ. bill Lynn, a member of the church, was employed as a part-time minister. Doug Davis became the first full time minister in 1954, followed by David Underwood in 1956. David served the congregation until 1965 when he and Myra left for the mission field in Nigeria.

Over the years, many good men have served as pulpit minister. Dave Phillips has been the pulpit minister since 1992. Our present ministry team consists of Glenn Daily (spiritual leadership development minister), Smith Hopkins (education minister), Joey Markham (youth minister), and Ron Roberson (Senior Adults minister).

This church has always been involved in mission work - individually and collectively. In recent years, our congregational efforts have increased. We now are the principle means of support for three international mission efforts. Leslie and Loopie Williams are missionaries to Canada. Sasha and Natasha Maluga are working in Donetsk, Ukraine, where Sasha preaches at the Budjonevsky church.

The church at Germantown did not have elders until 1964 when John Cox and Wilborn Jones were appointed to serve as its first elders. Presently, the elders serving the congregation are Barry Chapman, Glenn Daily, Tom Dickson, Jerry Ellis, Steve Haynes, Byron Howell, Larry Scroggs, Joe Skelley, John Thomas, and Tim Vann.

The land at 7007 Poplar was purchased in May, 1950 and the education wing of the building was completed in 1954. This building consisted of classrooms on the first floor and an auditorium on the second floor plus a residence for the minister and his family at the back of the building.

In 1965, a larger auditorium, including a baptistery and additional classrooms on the lower level was completed. More construction was completed in 1984, adding an educational/fellowship building to provide more classrooms to meet the needs of a growing congregation.

In October of 1990, a fifteen acre parcel of land was purchased at 8723 Poplar Pike for the purpose of constructing new facilities. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new building complex were held Saturday, May 18, 1996. On July 27, 1997, David Underwood conducted the last Sunday morning service at the old church building on Poplar. The first worship service at 8723 Poplar Pike was August 3, 1997 and was conducted by Dave Phillips.

Following the move into the new facilities, a six and one-half acre parcel of land adjoining the west side of our property became available, and the church purchased it in 1998. The majority of this land has been developed and used as expanded parking along the northwestern portion of our property.

'Fellowship Park' is the area at the extreme southern end of our property now being developed use by the congregation and the community. A walking trail, recreational softball field/soccer field, and a pavilion provide an ideal atmosphere for groups of any size to grow through fellowship.

A new education building, the second phase of a three-phase project on Poplar Pike, was completed and functional by the summer of 2003. This building houses classroom space for adults as well as children, and features a large youth room on the second floor.

Prior to leading the closing prayer for our groundbreaking at 8723 Poplar Pike, I made the following statement, which I think still resonates with the intention of the Lord's church at Germantown:

With God as our Father, Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit as our strength, and the Bible as our guide, we gratefully dedicate ourselves to the task of worship, love and service. Our purpose is to proclaim the riches of God's word, to help those who are spiritually and physically in need, and to build up the bond of love that exists between the family of believers at the Germantown church of Christ.